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Cambodian crispy rice with pork floss

Rice is something like the staple food in Cambodia. It is served at every meal. Most people eat regular cooked rice, but there are also variations, for example in delicious desserts. Another specialty is pot-fried Cambodian crispy rice with pork floss. Pork floss is soft, dried meat fibers from the pig. You find this dish on special occasions, but a restaurant in Siem Reap specializes only in it. It is not cheap: a large portion costs 10 dollars. Our host Vorleak researched a bit for you and made a step-by-step instruction how to cook Cambodia crispy rice at home.

How to cook Cambodian crispy rice with Pork Floss

First of all, you take normal rice and wash it three times. Then you pour it into a pot with a thin bottom. Take so much rice that it covers about one centimeter of the bottom. Then add water and boil the rice for about 20 minutes. The rice must become very soft. A gas stove or open fire is best.

When it is done cooking, take a wooden spoon and start spreading the rice from the center to the edge of the pot. It should form a rim about five centimeters high, but the rice must still cover the bottom. Spread everything smoothly.

Now put the pot back on the stove and let the rice bake. First on the bottom, then you have to take the pot in your hand and hold the edges over the flame. Be careful not to burn yourself. It would be best if you kept swirling the pot until the rice has darkened and is clearly browned on the pot (but it shouldn’t burn).

Let the Cambodian crispy rice burn a bit

Meanwhile, crack two eggs and whisk them with salt, pepper and chili powder or homemade chili sauce to taste. Cut spring onions into small pieces.

Heat about 150 ml of oil. When it’s hot, carefully pour it into the rice pot (turn the flame back on) and swirl the pot so the oil gets everywhere. You need to keep doing this until the rice looks crispy. Then pour off the rest of the oil.

Now take the eggs and pour them over the bottom of the crispy rice. Spread them evenly and let the mixture fry briefly until the egg has set. Now let the pot cool down a bit. Hold the bottom of the rice with a wooden spoon, tip the pot over and carefully catch the rice.

Poor eggs and onions on the rice and let it get solid.

Place it on a plate and sprinkle with Pork Floss.

Take the Cambodian crispy rice carefully out of the pot

You need these ingredients

200 gr rice
2 eggs
200 ml cooking oil
salt
pepper
chili powder
2 bunches spring onion
4 tbs porkfloss

The Red Piano in Siem Reaps Pub Street is closed

Siem Reap is under construction

Written by André Ruys on 06/23/2021. Posted in eat in Siem Reap, Kambodscha, News and Updates, Siem Reap.

The Covid 19 pandemic has turned Siem Reap into a ghost town. On Pub Street, almost all bars and restaurants are closed, and the road to the airport is lined with hotels with a “For Sale” or “For Rent” sign on the drawn bars at the entrance gates. The number of foreign tourists has dropped by over 90 percent. Small stores that once sold cold coconuts and fried bananas at Angkor Wat now offer face masks.

At the same time, a gigantic construction project has begun. In 2020, the central government in Phnom Penh had decided to renovate 38 roads in Siem Reap. A budget of $150 million has been set aside for this – most of the money comes from the sale of state-owned land.

Workers replaced the tourists in Siem Reap

For several months now, excavators have replaced the tourist buses, construction workers with helmets and high-visibility vests stand where Chinese visitor groups once ran after their guides. Sivutha Road in the heart of Siem Reap is also being renovated, as is Airport Road. New sewage pipes are being laid in Pub Street. Where once Angelina Jolie drank a cocktail, the shutters are now down. The Red Piano has opened a second branch on Sok San Road, which is already completed.

The road between Pub street and Sivutha Road in Siem Reap

There were protests here and there because some houses were built into the street or stalls took up a few meters of public space. But the otherwise so good relations did not help, some hotels had to rebuild their driveways or even lost their reception.
The new streets will not only get a new surface. The project includes laying most of the cables in the ground. At the same time, the roads will be widened to their original width, and many will even get a sidewalk.

The once famous Elephant Hotel gets an overhaul

Currently, around June 2021, most water and sewage pipes have been laid, and the trenches and holes have been filled in again. At Jajavarman Hospital, the first sections are already finished. Likewise, the Airport Road is already getting its asphalt in some areas.

A new city will emerge

When tourists return to Siem Reap in 2022, they will certainly see a different picture than before. In a video, City Hall painted the picture of magnificent boulevards and boats on the Siem Reap River. Even if some doubt, in any case, Siem Reap will look different.

But tourists are still a long way off. The numbers with new infections are nationwide in the middle three-digit range, in Siem Reap between 20 and 30 daily. There is a ban on alcohol sales; also a ban on gatherings, and a curfew between 10 pm and 4 am. Vaccination is currently underway in the main city of Phnom Penh and the worst affected provinces. The rate is 20 percent, and most of the vaccines come from China, SinoPham, and SinoVac. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced plans to have all citizens vaccinated by 2022.